Wheel flange oiler



Jan. 5, 1932.

H. G.. WARR WHEEL FLANGE OILER Filed oct. 11,' 192B fl ..l..

HMI/4 5 Waff A Patented dano 5, 1932 STATES PATENT' OFFICE HAROLD G *WARR OF PARK RIDGE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO MAINTENANCE EQUIP- MENT COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS WHEEL FLANG-E OILER Application mea octqber 11, 192s. seriai No. 311,874.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in wheel flange oilers, and more particularly to improved means for 4distributin and spreading the. oil on the car wheel ange.

Numerous devices have been designed and used for projecting or` pumping oil from a` platebeing of considerable length and having a tapered flange which fits along one side of the rail head so asto'have a considerable area engaging the-inner surface of the car wheel flange to act as a spreading means for the oil. Aplurality of oil conduits is formed in this tapered ilange of the distributing plate so that oil maybe simultaneously kdischarged from a plurality of spaced outlets in this -plate and thus taken up'by 'the Wheel flange and spread along the entire circumferential surface ofthe wheel flange by the continuous wiping engagement of this sur-- face with the distributing plate.

The principal object of this invention Yis to provide, in a wheel flange oiling system, an improved distributing means', suoli as briefly described hereinabove and such as disclosed in detail in the specifications which follow.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description of one approved form -of the apparatus.

l In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a transverse vertical section through one form of oiling system and the improved distributing plate, as applied toa standard rail.

Fig. 2 is a partial verticalsection, taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.`

Fig. 3 is a perspective View, on a smaller scale, showing the distributing plate attached in operative position on the rail.

The meansy shown here by way of example for pumping the oil from the reservoir will first be described briely, it being understood that any other approved means for feeding the oil could be utilized. At one side of the rail head 1, a lever or treadle 2, here shown in the form of a channel bar, is so mounted that it will be depressed by thetread of a passing car wheel, indicated in dotted lines at 3. The channel bar 2 will be normally held in the positionv shown in solid lines in Figs. 1 andy2, and will be returned to this position after being depressed by the car wheel, by suitable spring supporting means, not here illustrated.v

Intermediate the ends of the bar 2 are pivotally mounted at 4 and 5 a pair of links 6 and 7 formed with integral rack segments 8 and 9, respectively. The teeth of the rack segments 8 and 9 project in opposite direc-y tions and mesh with theopposite sides of a ratchet wheel 10 mounted on a shaft 11 journaled at one end in' a housing 12 secured by boltsklto the rail 1. The pivoted links 6 and 7 are resiliently' urged toward the ratchet wheel 10 bymeansof springs 14 and 15 carried by the housing 12. It will be noted that on the downward movement of the bar o r lever 2, the ratchet 10 will be given a partial rota-` tion in the direction of the arrow by means of the rack 9, the spring 14 yielding tol permit.

the rackl 8-to slip freely over the ratchet. l/Vhen the lever or lbar 2 returns to its elevated position, the teethof rack 8 will engage thefratchet wheel 10 to cause a further movement in the direction of the arrow, the spring 15l yielding at this time to permitl the rack 9 to slip freely over the ratchet teeth. In this manner the ratchet wheel 10 will be intermit- Vend against the adjusting nut 21 threaded on shaft 11 and serves to yieldingly clamp the l ratchet wheel between the friction rings 18 and 19. A

Shaft 11 is connected by coupling 22 with the actuating shaft 23 of a pumping mechanism 24 mounted within a lubricant' container or reservoir 25. The reservoir 25 is supported upon a plate 26 connected to thc base flanges of rail 1 by means of clamps 27 and 28 connected by bolts 29. The receptacle or reservoir is preferably cylindrical in shape and has a disc plunger 30 slidable therein, this plunger being depressed by atmospheric pressure'admitted through aperture bar 2 will be depressed and subsequently elevated, these movements causing 'an intermittent rotation of the shaftsY 11 and 23, the pumping mechanism 24 thus being actuated to force oil from reservoir 25 through the discharge pipe 33 to the distributing plate, hereinafter described. The specific oil pumping mechanism briefly described hereinabove is not herein claimed, but is disclosed more in detail and claimed in the co ending application of Bates, Serial No. 301, 41', filed Aug.

24, 1928. i It is to be understood that any other suitable form of mechanism might be utilized for forcing oil from a reservoir to the distributing plate, the above described mechanism being merely disclosed here by way of example.

It has been found that if oil is discharged from the pipe 33, through any suitable outlet, directly against the head of the rail 1 or the inner surface of rail fiange 34, by any pumping or projecting mechanism, such as just described by way of example, lthe oil will impact against the rail head or wheel flange with considerable force so that a great deal of it will be spattered away and lost, and the surfaces oiled on the rail head or flange will be quite localized. The particular object of the present invention is to provide a means for securing a better distribu-l tion of the oi1 along the wheel flange, and avoiding the excessive loss of oil.

VThe distributing plate 35 has a portion shaped to fit between the head and iiange of the rail, and is secured to the web of the rail by bolts '45 in a well known manner. The plate 35 has an upwardly tapering flange 36 designed to lie closely along the side of the rail head, with its outer surface substantially conforming tothe inner surface of the wheel flange 34, so that as the wheel flange passes along the rail, it will contact continuousl with a considerable area of the flange 36.

It will be apparent that the oil forced through conduit 33 will ybe discharged through the plurality of outlets 37 onto the outer surface of flange 36 or directly against the inner surface of a wheel flange 34 if said flange is passing overthe outlet. Since the stream of oil projected through pipe 33 is divided between the several outlet conduits 38, its impetus will be so diminished that it will not be discharged from outlets 37 with any-excessive force and will merely run out onto the outer surface of flange 36, where it will be picked up by the innersurface of iiange 34 and spread continuously along the inner surface of this flange, due to the continuous rubbing or wiping contact between the Harige and the distributing iange 36. It is to be understood that the plate 35 may be made of considerable length, and the number of outlets 37 increased in accordance with the discharging capacity of the oil pumping system. The number of outletsshould be so proportioned to the pumping system that the, oil

will be ejected from all of the outlets, but not with excessive force, so that it may be properly distributed by the en aging flanges 36 and 34 as described hereina ve.

I claim:

1. In a wheel flange oiling system, a distributing plate comprising a portion adapted to be secured to the rail and a tapered flange adapted to lie alongside the railhead and engage the inner surface of a wheel-flange with a wiping action to distribute the oil on the wheel flange, there being an oil conduit formed in said plate, the outlet of the conduit being in the outer Wheel-flange engaging face of the tapered fiangc adjacent the crown of the railhead.

2. In a Wheel flange oiling system, a dis' tributing plate comprising a portion adapted to be secured to the rail and a tapered fiange adapted to lie alongside the railhead and engage the inner surface of a wheel-flange with to be secured to the rail and a tapered flange adapted to lie alongside the railhead and engage the inner surface of a wheelflange with a wiping action to distribute the oil on the wheel flange, there being an oil inlet formed in the lower portion of the plateand a plurality of oil conduits leading from this inlet to outlets located at longitudinally spaced intervals in the outer wheel-flange engaging face of the flange of the distributing plate.

4. In combination with an oil reservoir positionefl adjacent a rail and a pumping system for discharging oil from the reservoir, said pumping system comprising actuating means that is depressed by a car wheel passing along the rail, a distributing plate comprising a portion adapted to be secured to one side of the rail and a tap-ered flange adapted to lie alongside the ralhead and engage the inner surface of a Wheel flange with a wiping action to distribute the oil on the wheelflange, there being an oil conduit formed in the plate, the outlet of the conduit being in the outer wheel-flange engaging face of the tapered flange adjacent the crown of the railhead, and a pipe connection leading from the pumping system to the inlet of the conduit.

5. In combination with an oil reservoir positioned adjacent a rail and a pumping system for discharging oil from the reservoir, said pumping system comprising actuating means that is depressed by a car wheel passing along the rail, a distributing plate comprising a portion adapted to be secured to one side of the rail and a tapered flange adapted to lie alongside the railhead and engage the inner surface of a wheel flange with a wiping action to distribute the oil on the wheel-flange, there being a plurality of oil conduits formed in the plate, the outlets of these conduits being located at longitudinally spaced intervals in the outer wheel-flange engaging face of the flange portion of the distributing plate, and means for conducting oil from 'the pumping system to the inlets of the several conduits.

6. In combination with an oil reservoir positioned adjacent a rail and a pumping system'for discharging oil from the reservoir, said pumping system comprising actuating means that is depressed by a car wheel passing along the rail, a distributing plate comprising a portion adapted to be secured to one side of the rail and a tapered flange adapted to lie alongside-the railhead and engage the inner surface of a wheel flange With a wiping action to distribute the oil on the wheel-flange, there being an oil inlet formed in the lower portion of the plate and a plurality of oil conduits leading from this inlet to outlets located at longitudinally spaced intervals in the outer wheel-Hange engaging and a pipe connection leading from the pumping system to the oil inlet.

7 In a wheel flange oiling system, a distributing plate adapted to be mounted at one side of the rail-head so as to extend longitudinally of the rail, said plate tapering upwardly and inwardly toward the rail so as to substantially fit between the rail-head and inner surface of thefwheel flange and serve as a wiping means to distribute the oil on the flange, there being an oil conduit formed in the plate for delivering oil through the outer wheel-flange engaging face of the tapered plate to the surface of a wheel flange.

8. In a wheel flange oiling system, a distributing plate adapted to be mounted at one side of the rail-head so as to extend longitudinally of the rail, said plate tapering upwardly and inwardly toward the rail so as to substantially fit between the rail-head and inner surface of the wheel flange and serve as a wiping means to distribute the oil on the flange, there being an oil conduit formed in the plate and terminating in a plurality of outlets positioned in the outer wheel-flange engaging face of the tapered plate and spaced longitudinally of the rail for delivering oil to the surface of a wheel flange.

9. In a wheel flange oiling system, a distributing plate adapted to extend longitudinally of a rail and comprising a supporting portion adapted to fit between the rail-head and the base flange of the rail, andan upwardly tapering portion adapted to lit along` side the rail-head and extend between the rail-head and the flange of a car wheel and serve as a wiping means to distribute the oil on the flange, and means for distributing oil through outer wheel flange engaging face of tlhe tapering portion of the plate to the wheel ange.

10. ln a wheel flange oiling system, a distributing plate adapted to extend longitudinally of a rail and comprising a supporting portion adapted to fit between the rail-head and the base flange of the rail, and an upwardly tapering portion adapted to fit alongside the rail-head and extend between the rail-head and the flange of a car wheel and serve as a wiping means to distribute the oil on the flange, there being oil conduits formed in the plate and extending from an inlet in the supporting portion to a plurality of outlets spaced at longitudinal intervals in the outer wheel-flange engaging face of the tapered portion so as to direct the oil against the wheel flange.`

HAROLD G. WARR.

face of the flange of the distributing plate, 

